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Article
The January 2001 Bloodbath
by
Daniel Louwsma
January 13th of 2001 was a cold Saturday morning. Cold enough for the local pond (a two-foot deep pond about 50 yards long by 30 yards wide) to have a mist condensing off its surface. Quiet, serene, the only sounds being made by Mother Nature herself. Then the Captains of SCRAP with their ships began to arrive. I arrived a little late, so I couldn't tell you in what order they came in, but I can give you a listing of who eventually showed up. Yes, showed up not knowing that today would be a bloodbath!
The Captains:
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Michael Aono SMS Moltke
David Asman SMS Nassau
Mark De Antonio USS Brooklyn
Brian Eliassen USS South Dakota
Dana Graham HMS Prince of Wales
Ty Siouxpancic HMS Inflexible
Mikey Riese TCG Yavuz (ex-SMS Goeben) on her maiden voyage
John Flores USS Gearing on her maiden voyage
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The Observers:
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John Riese, Builder of TCG Yavuz
Daniel Louwsma, USS Honolulu (building)
Mike O'Bannon, DKM Lutzow (refitting)
Running Bear Bunch, FNS Richelieu (building)
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The monthly SCRAP fire-fight usually consists of a single, two-sortie battle. Depending upon how many Axis ships are on the water effects how the teams are broken down. If there are enough Axis, it's Axis versus Allied. If the Axis are out-numbered, which is usually the case, teams are picked. Based on the number of Moltkes and Lutzows under construction, hopefully we'll see more Axis versus Allied battles. For the most part, the monthly get-together is used to swap stories, test ships, and keep ship handling and fighting skills up to speed. In some cases, as was today's slugfest, it will be the maiden voyages with either the ships, the captains, or (in Little Mikey's case) both.
Here were the "short ships" on the water:
Ty Siouxpancic only had two cannons and a bilge pump on his Invincible.
Mikey Riese only have a single stern cannon and a bilge pump (the outlet of said pump is her portside wing turret angled up 45 degrees) on his Yavuz.
It was decided that the two battleship captains should be the fleet admirals for the day. Dana and Brian decided who would pick first on a coin-flip. Dana lost.
The first sortie teams were broken down as such:
Team Roadkill
Name Ship Units Speed (actual)
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Dana Graham (Admiral) HMS Prince of Wales 6 24
Mark De Antonio USS Brooklyn 3 22
Ty Siouxpancic HMS Inflexible 4 (3) 26
Mikey Riese TCG Yavuz 4 (2) 26 (22)
John Flores USS Gearing 1.5 21 (40)
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Team Fine Dining
Name Ship Units Speed
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Brian Eliassen (Admiral) USS South Dakota 6 26
Mike Aono SMS Moltke 4 26
David Asman SMS Nassau 4 28
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Despite a numerical, unit and speed disadvantage, Brian appeared comfortable with the teams. Everyone else present witnessed two beautiful prize fights on the water. Trust me boys and girls, there were plenty of sinks, a few rammings (one humorous) and a beaching or two but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Sortie #1
Ty arrived late as he slept through his alarm (in fact, he missed a "Guiness book sinking"), but he hit the water rather quickly and got into the middle of it. At the time of entry, he asked what team he was on. Brian yelled, "Dana needs the units!" as the experienced veteran could already read the writing on the wall. The "Guiness Book sinking" was of the smallest ship in the club, the USS Gearing. Engine troubles essentially turned her into a semi-mobile target, and she was hit hard by the South Dakota, which quickly unloaded at least SIX full stern salvos into her tiny hull. After that, the SoDak left, we all just watched the Gearing get lower and lower in the water, pump at full stream, and then down by the bow she went 20 seconds after being struck. She sank without getting a chance to fire her aft battery at a target. (Note to self: Unlike the Battle of Samar, DD's do not play with battleships and expect to live to tell the tale.) David Asman (SMS Nassau) was the happiest, as now he can say that someone else in the club knows how to sink.
After John waded into the pond to retrieve the Gearing, battle recommenced. Shortly after this, Ty arrived and managed to quickly get Inflexible in the water, although he had to do it without the ship being properly balanced (she had a minor list) and the main deck piece was loose. Mixing it up with the big boys, Inflexible got shot up and went down by the stern, her main deck coming up to mark her location. Once again, John Flores went into the water but this time to recover Inflexible.
After Inflexible's recovery, battle recommenced. This time, the Brooklyn went down, after receiving well over thirty hits, losing both her portside catapult and Mount 61 to BB fire (both were recovered). No one has the exact count, about the best we can do is guess as the two primary holes below the waterline were very large and on the port side; one a very tight triple salvo grouping (all three hits inside the area of a DIME) just under Mount 62, and the other caused by a high-angle deflection shot leaving a one inch long hole in the hull amidships. Both looked like she'd been hit by two torpedoes. Ouch. Recovery time!
By this time, the Prince of Wales was on her five, and that left the Yavuz with her one gun, her pump going, and on five to go up against three battlewagons and their 14 points. However, little Mikey (perhaps in a show of Nationals to come) proved to be difficult prey. Even after beaching Yavuz stern first, he was able to wiggle free by using his engines and rudders and kept plenty of sea room around him until South Dakota, Moltke, and Nassau all ran out of ammo.
Between sorties, we took a time out to let the sinkers patch their below hits. It was also decided to move the Motlke to Dana's team. Everyone was able to return to the water except the Gearing. She sat out the next fight due to the severe damage received plus her balky drives.
Sortie #2
The teams were broken down as such:
Team Roadkill
Name Ship Units Speed (actual)
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Dana Graham (Admiral) HMS Prince of Wales 6 24
Mike Aono SMS Moltke 4 26
Mark De Antonio USS Brooklyn 3 22
Ty Siouxpancic HMS Invincible 4 (3) 26
Mikey Riese TCG Yavuz 4 (2) 26 (22)
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Team Fine Dining
Name Ship Units Speed
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Brian Eliassen (Admiral) USS South Dakota 6 26
David Asman SMS Nassau 4 28
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Almost immediately, Inflexible got rammed hard enough (didn't see who did it, but we all heard it) for her battery to shift, causing her to develop a severe list to port. Although there was only minor damage, she did roll while Ty was checking for damage. After deflooding and having the ballast reset, she rejoined the battle, only to get shot up, ram a teammate (the Yavuz), and then sink again. Here's where it gets funny: Inflexible rams the Yavuz, punches a quarter-sized hole (no lie!) below the waterline, and then Inflexible (not Yavuz) sinks! Question: Is this a self-inflicted ram-sink? Later on that evening, Ty was to give us a full damage report on Inflexible, and it makes for interesting reading.
But that's not all! The best sink of the day was when the Prince of Wales went down. Damage-wise, she didn't receive that many hits, but when she went full reverse, the water came over her fantail, up to "Y" turret, and down the hole at the rate of a pint a second. Dana's still a little upset about sinking his own ship, but now that he knows about that weak spot, Prince of Wales will now be refitted with a watertight aft turret to prevent anymore self-sinkings.
The Yavuz refused to be sunk, despite having been rammed twice and one hundred eleven shell hits in the hull, half below the marked waterline. Fortunately for her, she was very light and those weren't really below the waterline holes. Mikey reported that her single cannon stopped working half-way through the battle for some reason. Read the quote below to discover why this happened.
Unfortunately for the Brooklyn, it was the only ship left on the water from Team Roadkill. Brian and David pursued him relentlessly. The Brooklyn, already severely damaged just couldn't maintain the run. She turned onto her port side and slowly slipped beneath the waves. That was the end of it. Five ships faced two at the beginning of the sortie and only those two ships owned the water at the end of it. Brian and David even took time for a high five at lakeside.
The Total damage, as given, is listed below.
Team Roadkill
Name Ship Units A O B Sunk Total
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Dana Graham HMS Prince of Wales 6 24 2 7 Yes 1640
Mike Aono SMS Moltke 4 23 5 1 405
Mark De Antonio USS Brooklyn 3 23 5 13 Yes(2) 2405
Ty Siouxpancic HMS Invincible 4 (3) 47 11 8 Yes(3) 3545
Mikey Riese TCG Yavuz 4 (2) 41 14 57 3610
John Flores USS Gearing 1.5 19 4 3 Yes 840
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Total 12445
Team Fine Dining
Name Ship Units A O B Sunk Total
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Brian Eliassen USS South Dakota 6 38 2 1 480
David Asman SMS Nassau 4 12 0 3 270
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Total 750
Here are some quotes heard at lakeside and afterwards at breakfast:
Brian Eliassen - "It was great! Everyone enjoyed themselves. Including Ty."
Dana Graham - "I can't believe it. I'm too disgusted with myself."
John Flores - "Brian calmly showed up really close to battling time, put his SoDak on the water and let it do the talking for him. He's the DoomSlayer!"
Mike Aono - "Hey, why couldn't I stay on Team Fine Dining?"
Mark De Antonio - "Okay, that's it. I built an Allied ship so I wouldn't have to battle against the SoDak! We're playing Axis versus Allied from now on."
David Asman - "I haven't seen that many sinks in one day since the carnage of '99 Nats!"
Ty Siouxpancic - "Do I win a prize for sinking more times than the total number of sorties?"
Brian Eliassen - "It was so cold for the first sortie...my firing thumb was numb!"
John Riese - "MIKEY, THE BLUE DEATH IS LINING UP ON YOU!" (said while watching the SoDak moving in for the kill while his son was elsewhere)
Mikey Riese - "Well just get it out of there!" (the reply from the other side of the lake)
John Flores - "Damn. What can I say, that South Dakota is nasty!"
Brian Eliassen - "Gee, sorry guys."
John Reise - "I counted 7 hits on the cannon barrel, at least 4 which would have prevented firing of the gun." (talking about the Yavuz)
David Asman - "What a bloodbath!"
A good time was had by all and just about everyone packed up and headed over to a local coffee shop for breakfast.
Copyright © 2001 Daniel Louwsma
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